


A Little Later On

by AllonsyBatch



Series: Nothing's Like Before [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Backstory, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, I'm taking a ton of liberties with Terra's background, Italy, Sequel, Travel, Wedding Fluff, personal headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 18:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20012911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllonsyBatch/pseuds/AllonsyBatch
Summary: Sequel toNothing's Like Before.Terra returns to his home world to seek out his family before his impending marriage to Aqua.  Lots of fluff with just a bit of angst tossed in for good measure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically one giant personal headcanon for Terra's background. I'm sure in 2045 when KH4 comes out there will be something to refute it, but until then, I can dream. This is an established relationship, the previous story ending with Terra's proposal to Aqua. Read it first-it would make me happy. :)

Every time Aqua woke up, it took her just a quick moment of panic to remind herself that she was no longer in the Realm of Darkness, that she was safe, and that she could enjoy the soft bed in which she was currently sleeping. These days, the moment took less time as there was usually a warm body beside her reminding her of these things, but with how small the bed she and Terra shared was, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t in it right now. 

A glance at the clock told her he was having trouble sleeping again, as it was much too early for him to be awake, but she distinctly remembered falling asleep curled around him the night before. Sure enough, the small night-light in the corner was flipped upside-down-their signal to each other that they were fine and going outside to think. Terra frequently had trouble sleeping, waking up to cold sweats and the concern that he was once again trapped within his own body. Usually, it took no more than Aqua’s comforting touch to bring him back, but sometimes the nightmares were bad enough to require a trip outside. 

Aqua wrapped a blanket around herself, not bothering to take one for Terra as she knew he’d be fine without one, and headed to their usual spot near the top of the castle. He was there just as expected, leaning against one of the stone balustrades, head tilted up toward the night sky. 

“At least you picked a nice night to not be able to sleep,” Aqua said softly, careful to not startle him. 

“Don’t know that I necessarily get to pick them,” Terra sighed, turning to look at her only once she had sat down and leaned against his side. “You can go back to bed, I know you’re exhausted after yesterday.” 

Aqua had spent the day with Kairi, Naminé, and Xion going wedding shopping, the three younger girls absolutely giddy at the prospect of her approaching marriage to Terra. She had to admit that their excitement was infectious, and she had thoroughly enjoyed looking for a dress and all the trimmings before returning home and realizing just how tired it had made her. 

“It’s fine, I got a few good hours in,” she assured him, smiling contentedly when one of his arms wrapped around her to secure her to his side. “Bad dream?”

“Good one, actually,” Terra replied, still looking up to the sky. “Do you ever think about where you came from, Aqua?”

“Sometimes, but they aren’t exactly happy memories,” she answered, surprised that the topic came up. Terra never talked about his past before training at the Land of Departure, and even though she was marrying him in just a few weeks Aqua knew next to nothing about the life Terra had before she knew him. “I don’t remember much…I lived in a home for orphaned children from the time I was a baby. I don’t even know my parents’ names.” 

Terra knew this much, and he nodded as he continued looking up at the stars. He remembered the day Eraqus told him there would be a new trainee arriving-Terra had been thrilled to hear that he would no longer be alone, and that excitement only dulled a bit when he learned that the new person would be a girl.

“Was…that what you were dreaming about?” Aqua asked, looking up at his contemplative face. “Home?”

Terra let out a deep sigh through his nose. “I dreamt of my mother,” he explained, Aqua having never heard him mention her before. “I woke up and realized I hadn’t heard her voice in over thirty years. I forgot what she sounded like.” 

Time was strange for Terra and Aqua. Thanks to their respective possession and time in the Dark Realm, they had not aged for the twelve years they were gone, and Terra had even managed to squeeze twenty years into twelve via time travel that neither one of them truly understood. 

“I did the math in my head…”

“A lofty feat for you,” Aqua teased.

“Shut up,” Terra laughed, his aversion to the subject a not-so-well-liked memory of their childhood. “My sisters would be 28 and 26 now. They could have their own families. My mother might not even be…” he trailed off, Aqua taking one of his hands. 

“You could go back…see for yourself?” she suggested, Terra’s gaze finally moving from the stars to her. 

“I…I don’t think I could. What would I tell them?” 

“The truth?” Aqua suggested, face scrunching as she realized how crazy it sounded. 

“Hi mom, sorry I haven’t visited in twenty-four years, by the way I’m only twenty-two? Yeah, I wouldn’t even know where to start on that one.” 

Aqua huffed a laugh at his sarcastic response, knowing it was even more complicated than that. 

“Besides, we were poor,” Terra explained. “They may have moved around a lot, who knows if I would even be able to find them?”

They were both silent for a while, Aqua not sure what to say to make him feel any better. Somehow, from all the years they’d been best friends, they had developed the kind of bond that made them able to communicate without having to speak, and she knew then that we was going to try anyway. 

“Do you want me to go with you?” she asked, not even having to ask if he was sure. 

“I don’t think I want to go alone,” he replied, unsurprised by her knowing his thoughts. “You were always better at talking to people than me anyway.” 

Aqua thought for a moment about the life Terra had that she knew nothing about-how somewhere in the worlds there was a place where he had lived before the Land of Departure, and that place had people who loved him before she had. 

“What are your sisters’ names?” she asked, hoping it was okay to ask questions. 

“Aelia and Caelia,” he answered, smiling at Aqua’s raised brow. “My parents were into the whole ‘Latin’ thing. They had their ‘earth,’ ‘sun,’ and ‘sky.’”

Aqua giggled, glad when Terra joined in. “Trust me, I got all kinds of grief for our names as a kid. Luckily, the girls decided to go by ‘Lia’ and ‘Cal’ fairly early.” 

“And what did they call their big brother?” she asked, seeing him smile in slight embarrassment. 

“They just called me ‘Ter,’” he laughed. “It was my mother who had all the nicknames.” 

“Such as…?” Aqua chuckled, hoping they were good enough to poke fun at him.

“She called me…” Terra rolled his eyes, though he was still smiling. “She called me her ‘passerotto.’”

Aqua stared, having no idea if the name was worthy to be joked about or not. 

“It’s…kind of hard to translate, actually,” he attempted, wrinkling his forehead as he thought. “I suppose…’little bird’ is as close as you can get, really. She used to say I always wanted to fly away from my nest before I was ready.” 

“Terra, did you speak another language where you came from?” Aqua asked, amazed that she had never asked the question before. 

“Penso di poterlo ancora fare,” he replied, smiling once he’d said it, almost as if it had felt good to do so, Aqua looking at him in amazement. 

“What did you just say?”

“I said, ‘I think I can still do it,’” he laughed. “And I guess I can.” 

Aqua playfully punched his arm. “I can’t believe you’ve never told me that.” 

“I haven’t done it since I was little,” he explained. “When Eraqus took me in, he had to teach me the Common language before we could do anything else. I was so dead-set on training that I refused to speak anything but that once I knew it.” 

“Did Eraqus speak…whatever your native language was?” Aqua asked, sure that their previous Master would never be caught looking like he was ignorant in any particular subject.

“There was some sort of spell he could cast to make it so he understood me,” Terra explained. “That’s how I learned so fast. He would cast the spell, I would speak in my own language, but it would come out as the Common one. Took less than a year and even my accent was gone.” 

“You had an accent?” she asked, Terra feeling another eye roll coming on. “That’s so cute.” 

“Gods you’re annoying, good thing I’m not marrying you or anything,” he teased, earning him another punch to the arm. 

“Watch it buddy, or you might just be stuck with me for life.” 

“I suppose there are worse things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, my personal headcanon is that Terra is Italian. While I will be using a bit of the language in this fic, you only have to pop it into a translator if you want, as it's not necessary to understand the story, but might make you smile at the fluffiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite seeming at peace with his decision the previous night, Terra was a mess the next day as he and Aqua made preparations for their trip to Terra’s home world, and it was everything Aqua could do to not cast a Sleep spell on him just to get him to stop pacing the castle. 

“We haven’t used our Keyblade Gliders in ages, do you think they’ll be ready to go? What about my armor? What if it doesn’t fit? I don’t want to press that button and have bits of me-“

“Terra!” Aqua interrupted, putting both hands on his chest in a placating gesture. “You’ve asked me about the Gliders six times since we’ve been up, and I’ve told you five of those times that Even and Ienzo have looked at them and they’re fine. Your armor will adjust to any changes you’ve had body-wise, and none of your ‘bits’ are going to be harmed, which is good because I’m rather attached to all of them.” 

Terra slumped, realizing how shuffled his thoughts felt. “I guess I’m just a little nervous.” 

“I know you are,” Aqua agreed, patting his chest before taking her hands to his cheeks instead. “Everything is going to be fine, and I’ll be with you every step of the way, okay?”

He nodded and closed his eyes as she leaned forward to give him a quick kiss, the two of them hearing an exasperated sigh from behind them. 

“Get a room,” Lea whined sarcastically, passing the two of them to raid the kitchen cabinets for food. 

“This is a room, Red,” Terra replied, Lea scoffing at the nickname. While they constantly bickered, Aqua knew that Terra had gained a soft spot for the witty member of their team in the past several weeks. 

“One where people like to eat without being nauseated by the incessant use of public affection,” Lea retorted.

“Says the person who made out with Isa in the common room last night,” Aqua came back, Lea immediately freezing in place. “You should really check that everyone is asleep first if you don’t want anyone to know.” 

“I…you…” Lea seemed to be at a rare loss for words, his face contorted in something between rage and concern. Everyone knew he was thrilled at the return of his childhood friend, but it seemed not everyone knew _how_ thrilled.

“Relax, Red, we won’t tell anybody,” Terra sighed, Lea’s anguish too much for even him to enjoy. 

Lea visibly relaxed, clearly not ready for the information to be made public yet. “Thanks…” he mumbled, hurrying out of the room without saying anything else. 

“You didn’t actually see them, did you?” Terra asked once he was out of earshot. 

“No, just a lucky guess,” Aqua chuckled. “Although they were pretty close on the couch.” 

Together they finished the packing, quietly making their way to the small courtyard they intended to use as a launch pad for their gliders. 

“You weren’t leaving without saying goodbye, were you?” They heard Ven shout as Terra secured their bags to the gliders, adjusting the armor on his arm before he would use it. 

“It’s not like we’re leaving forever,” Aqua argued, hugging Ven anyway. “We’ll only be gone for a few days.” 

“But it’s the first time you guys will be gone since we all got back,” he complained, looking between Aqua and Terra. 

“Ven, there’s nothing dangerous where we’re going, I promise,” Terra assured him, grunting as he was assailed with a hug from Ven as well. 

“I’ll still miss you guys,” Ven replied, holding on to Terra before grabbing Aqua too so he could hug them both at once. “Good luck finding your family, Terra!”

With one final hug, Ven backed up so Aqua and Terra could hit their arms, both of them becoming completely engulfed in the colored steel of their armor. 

“I always loved the way your butt looked in that armor,” Aqua teased, Terra blushing behind his helmet. 

“I can still hear you!” Ven whined, crossing his arms as the two of them boarded their Gliders, shooting off into the air.


	3. Chapter 3

“I’ve been thinking,” Terra’s voice cut through on the radio within Aqua’s helmet, startling her and almost causing her hands to slip off the steering mechanism. “About where we’re going to live after the wedding.” 

“Does now seem like a good time to talk about this?” Aqua asked, looking ahead where she could see Terra flying through the stars ahead of her. The stars whipped past them at amazing speed, and Aqua was astounded that she could still appreciate the sight after how many times she’d seen it. 

“It’ll take hours to get there, so yeah, now seems like a good time,” Terra’s voice answered. They’d always had the radios in their helmets so they could communicate while in armor, but they’d never actually used it before. “I was thinking that…that we could go home.” 

There was silence over the radio, to the point where Terra actually turned his head to look behind him as they careened through space. 

“You said you didn’t want to…” Aqua replied, glad her helmet allowed her to hide her emotions about the idea. 

“I know,” he agreed, turning back to watch where he was going. “I didn’t think I could go back to where it happened.”

“Terra…” 

“I know, I know, let me finish,” he sighed. “I know it wasn’t me that did it. Between you and Riku, I think I’m actually starting to believe it.” 

“Good, because you didn’t kill him, Terra,” Aqua said, shaking her head even though he wasn’t looking at her. “It was Xehanort.” 

“I know,” he repeated. “And…and I think I want to go back. We could fix it up, make it look the way it did before.” 

“That…sounds amazing.” 

“Me, you, Ven, and any of the others who want to come,” Terra added. 

“We could have our own pupils, just like the Master did,” Aqua laughed, tears clouding her vision as she flew. 

“Exactly,” Terra confirmed. “I think the Master would have liked that-us carrying on his tradition.” 

“He would be so proud,” Aqua agreed, laughing at the idea of Terra being in charge of young pupils. 

“I hope so.” 

“He would be, Terra. He loved you so much.” 

“I know…come on, we need to veer left here.” 

Aqua knew he wanted to change the subject, as Terra missed Eraqus quite possibly more than Aqua and Ven combined. She knew he had loved Eraqus like a father, but until the other night when he had filled Aqua in on his childhood, she’d had no idea just how much Terra had looked to their Master as his father-figure.

After several hours of flying, Aqua saw Terra pull up on his Glider to stop, hovering in mid-air as they approached a blue-green orb of a world floating beneath them. 

“Is that it?” Aqua asked, pulling up beside him and looking down at the planet, wishing she could see Terra’s face. 

“That’s it,” he confirmed, punching in some additional numbers into the guidance system on his Glider. He’d spent time with Yen Sid and Ienzo nailing down the exact coordinates of his home world, although the numbers could only get them to within fifty miles or so considering Terra only knew the rough location of his childhood home. Aqua followed as he zoomed away toward the planet, knowing his anxiety had to be off the charts at this point. 

When they landed, Aqua didn’t have to ask if they were going to be seen, as it looked like there was nobody around for miles. They landed in an open field, the only sound the chirping of crickets as they made their Gliders and armor disappear. The two of them simply stood and looked around for several minutes, Aqua not wanting to push Terra until he was ready to get moving. 

Terra’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, yet the only thing he could do was turn his head upward to look at the stars he’d just flown through to get here. 

“I never thought I’d be back here again,” he whispered, closing his eyes and breathing in the smell of the land around him, the salt coming in from the nearby Adriatic sea. They were on a hillside, and below them they could see the lights of a nearby village sparkling a short distance away.

“Terra…it’s beautiful,” Aqua whispered, taking one of his hands and holding on to his arm as she leaned against him. “Is that your town?”

“No, we lived on the outskirts,” he answered. “I’m not really sure which direction, but we’ll start there.”

They walked for a little over a mile, finally reaching the village just before the sun began to rise. Aqua felt like she didn’t have enough eyes, the sights of the foreign village too many for her to look everywhere at once. The village was made up of many white buildings, their dark grey roofs spiraling into points where they lined the cobblestoned streets they now walked through. 

“Any of this looking familiar?” Aqua asked, hating how uncomfortable Terra looked as he scanned the streets. 

“I remember the buildings…” he answered, shaking his head. “But it’s been so long, and we came to town very rarely. I have an idea.” 

He pulled her hand to direct her down an alley, the lights of the village dimming as they entered the darker side streets. 

“Where are we going?” Aqua asked, not liking the look of the dark alley they’d entered. 

“We’re going to ask someone,” Terra answered, eyes scanning the area carefully. 

“So, like in a shop or something?” Aqua asked, having a feeling that wasn’t what was happening at all.

“Shop workers don’t know anything,” Terra answered, ducking around another dark corner. “You want to know something, you ask the street kids.” 

Aqua was about to answer that she didn’t think it was a good idea before Terra’s face lit up, and following his eyes she saw a young boy at the end of the alley. He started to bolt before Terra raised his hand and called out to him.

“Fermare! Non sono un poliziotto,” Terra called, Aqua once again fascinated by the foreign language coming from his mouth. “Do you speak English?”

_What’s English?_ Aqua thought, but it didn’t seem to matter because the boy shook his head. Terra knelt down, Aqua assuming to look less threatening to the boy who couldn’t be any older than eight or nine. 

“Mi chiamo Terra. Questo è Aqua. Come ti chiami?” 

The boy looked at them warily, and Aqua smiled shyly as she assumed she had just been introduced, judging by the use of their names. 

“Gio,” the boy answered, Terra smiling warmly at him. 

“Hello, Gio. Stiamo cercando una città povera. Sai dov’è?”  
“What are you saying?” Aqua whispered, not wanting to scare away the boy. 

“They used to call where I was from ‘Poor Town.’ I’m hoping they still do. I’m asking if he knows where it is,” he answered, the boy looking at them like he definitely didn’t know any place called that, and sure enough, he shook his head right afterward. 

Terra thought for a moment, trying something else.

“Conosci qualcuno di nome De Angelis?”

This time the boy nodded, holding up three fingers, making Terra sigh. 

“Figures, one of the most common names in the country. Puoi descriverli?”

“Terra…I’m lost here,” Aqua reminded him, feeling completely alien in this place. 

“My family name is common, he says he knows three people with that name.” Terra clarified, watching as the boy thought for a moment. 

“Family name? Like a last name?” Aqua asked. 

“Uno è una vecchia signora? O una ragazza?” Terra continued without answering Aqua. Before she could ask, the boy nodded excitedly. He rushed forward and took Terra’s hand, leading him forward through the alleyways with Aqua right behind them. 

“Terra, is this a good idea?” Aqua whispered, not caring if the boy understood her or not. They were led into what she assumed was the underbelly of this city, and eventually the houses and buildings became more and more sparse. Suddenly, Terra stopped, halting the boy in his tracks. 

“I know this street!” He exclaimed, the boy looking up in confusion. “Conosco questa strada!” He clarified for the boy, letting go of his hand and reaching into his pocket. The boy shied away before Terra pulled out a handful of gold, placing it in the boy’s hand. “Grazie, amico.” 

The boy ran away before Terra could say anything else, and before Aqua could ask he had grabbed her hand and started pulling her forward again. The sun was up now, and despite the houses becoming less and less, Aqua started to notice more signs of life within them as they walked. 

“That street there-there used to be a bakery on that corner-I used to steal bread for myself and my sisters!” Terra nearly shouted, Aqua watching his face light up in recognition. “And over there! Over there was a book shop-the owner used to let me come in and read all the time.”

He stopped again, looking further down the path. Aqua knew he was experiencing a flood of emotions, and she didn’t want to interrupt what was sure to be a rough moment for him. 

“Aqua…I know where we are,” he whispered, looking around at the square where they stood. “If…if they haven’t moved…my house…it’s only a few minutes from here.” 

Aqua finally turned him to look at her, holding his face between her hands. 

“You can do this, Terra. I know you can.” 

They walked slower now, Terra still holding Aqua’s hand as they moved further and further from the highly-populated village and into the outskirts. Houses began to have more and more space between them, to the point where one wouldn’t be visible from the next. The trees and vegetation became thicker, and Aqua was about to ask if he still knew where he was going when Terra made a very deliberate turn down what looked to be an abandoned road and led them instead to a dirt pathway. The pathway continued to a small cottage surrounded by sparse garden, chickens pecking at the dirt. 

The cottage looked like it could fall down in a strong breeze, and Aqua had a feeling the chickens weren’t going to find any food on the ground where they were walking. Terra wasn’t looking at any of that though, as he was frozen to the spot and looking at something else entirely. 

A woman knelt down to pick up some laundry from the basket beside her, shaking it out before clipping it to the line above her. She hadn’t noticed them standing at the end of the path, but even from afar Aqua knew who she was. 

Her hair was white, although Aqua had a suspicion that it was once a deep brown just like her son’s. Aqua recognized the familiar angles of the woman’s face as the same ones she looked at every night before bed, but the most striking feature was her eyes-the exact same shade of blue as the man who stood beside her. 

Terra took a few tentative steps forward, the woman finally noticing them standing there. She looked concerned as she took in Aqua’s blue hair and strange outfit, but when she turned to Terra her face changed instantly. 

“Dio mio…” The woman whispered, Aqua not having to guess that she was trying to reason in her mind the person she saw in front of her. “Luca?”

Terra gasped, Aqua seeing tears rolling down his cheeks as he smiled and shook his head. “No…sono io, mamma…” 

The woman’s hands came up to cover her mouth, her head shaking as tears rolled down her own cheeks. She had dropped her laundry, walking slowly to stand in front of Terra. She reached out to touch his face, having to reach up as he was a good two feet taller than her.

“ _Il mio passerotto_? Sei volato a casa?” her voice was small, and Aqua recognized the word that Terra had told her about. Terra nodded, a laugh coming out as a sob as his mother stroked his cheeks. 

Aqua silently summoned her Keyblade, keeping it behind her although she had a feeling neither of them would notice. Silently, she whispered the incantation she’d been practicing after days of poring over books in the library, only knowing it worked when Terra’s mother spoke once more. 

“Terra? My Terra? Is it really you?”

“It’s me, I promise,” he huffed, sniffing as she let go of his face to look him up and down. 

“You’ve come back to me…my boy. My baby boy.” 

While Terra and his mother were engrossed beside her, Aqua turned at the sound of the door to the cottage swinging open behind them. 

“Mama? Who are you talking to?” The girl that emerged from the house could have been Terra in a wig, their faces nearly identical as she looked out at the scene in the yard. 

“Cal?” Terra asked, looking at her in wonder as the tears rolled down his cheeks, the girl looking at him with utter confusion until the reality seemed to set in. 

“T-Terra?” 

Terra nodded, the girl turning and screaming back into the house. “Lia! Get out here, Terra’s come home!” She ran out into the yard, nearly knocking Terra over as she hit him with a hug, Aqua having to stop her own tears as she watched. One more person emerged from the house, Lia having clearly taken more after their father as she was leaner with sandy hair, although they all had the exact same eyes that Aqua had grown so used to over the years. 

“Oh my god, Terra?” Lia shouted, ruffling his hair and pulling his face up so she could study it. “I can’t believe it’s you! You’re so tall!” 

“God, you look just like dad!” Cal exclaimed, Lia nodding in agreement. 

“I thought I saw a ghost!” Terra’s mother sobbed, still clinging to Terra’s body like he might disappear. 

Aqua didn’t think she’d ever see anything as beautiful as this reunion if she lived to be a hundred, but then Terra pulled away from them slightly. 

“Mom, Lia, Cal, this is Aqua. My fiancé,” he choked, still overcome with emotion as he held his arm out for Aqua to join them. 

“Fiancé?!” Lia shouted excitedly, hitting Terra on the arm and laughing. 

“Beautiful,” Terra’s mother exclaimed, seeking Aqua’s face and pulling her down to kiss each cheek. 

“Thank you, Mrs….” 

“De Angelis,” Terra supplied, Aqua smiling at the new information. 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. De Angelis,” Aqua finished, smiling at the women who all stood before her, looking frighteningly similar to her soon-to-be husband. 

“Come inside, both of you,” Cal nearly sobbed. “Can you stay for a while?”

Terra nodded, and while they all moved to go inside, Aqua smiled at the way Mrs. De Angelis wouldn’t let go of her son’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terra's home is near the town of Alberobello, Puglia in southeastern Italy (in the heel of "the boot."). It's a beautiful town, and I have no trouble believing little Terra was a street rat.
> 
> " _Passerotto_ " is an Italian term of endearment meaning "little sparrow."


	4. Chapter 4

For most of the day, Aqua and Terra sat around the much-too-small kitchen table in the cottage as Mrs. De Angelis and her daughters took turns making food and tea for the group. Terra told his family all about how he and Aqua grew up, their training with Master Eraqus, and how they had been assigned to research the darkness that had begun to engulf the surrounding worlds. When he got to the part where he was possessed by Xehanort, he changed the story slightly, telling his mother and sisters that he was taken prisoner rather than his body being taken over. Aqua supposed it made the news slightly easier to hear, but not by much. 

“You’re…you’re the girl from the pictures,” Lia finally said, pointing at Aqua with a look of bemusement. 

“Pictures?” Aqua asked, voice quiet after having listened for so long. She had needed to recast the spell a few times over the course of the day as it wore off, although she found herself letting it lapse a few times just to hear Terra speak the foreign language, liking the way it sounded in his voice. 

“Your teacher…Mister Eraqus? He sent us pictures and updates,” Lia explained, standing and looking through a random kitchen drawer. She produced a small pile of letters, Aqua instantly recognizing Eraqus’ tight script. She opened the first one, smiling and putting her hand over her mouth as she caught sight of the yellowed photograph inside. 

She and Terra were sitting on the branches of a tree, Terra hanging upside-down and waving at the camera. They were no more than ten years old, and Aqua remembered Eraqus yelling at him not to fall just before snapping the picture. Her favorite part was Terra’s missing front teeth, and the way he grinned carelessly as they played. 

“Right, that’s you?” Lia asked, indicating Aqua in the picture. 

“Yes, we grew up together,” she confirmed, reading through the letter that told of Terra’s excelling abilities with a Keyblade and all things physical, while playfully hinting at his aversion to the academic side of his studies. 

“And you fell in love? That’s so romantic,” Cal swooned, ruffling Terra’s hair in a move that was so like siblings Aqua felt her heart squeeze. 

“You used to say you were gonna marry Mamma,” Lia teased, Terra rolling his eyes and both sisters laughing. 

Aqua continued looking through the pictures, smiling at each until she reached one that made her pause. She guessed that she and Terra were about thirteen or fourteen, the two of them in their bathing suits on the shore of the lake where they used to swim as kids. She remembered the day-Eraqus had tried to get a good picture of them and she had rebelled, her teenage awkwardness setting in heavily as she avoided the camera at all costs. She had finally relented and grinned cheesily at the lens, but it was Terra that made her pause. The look on his face as he looked not at the camera, but directly at her, like he would throw down his life for her if she merely asked. He really had loved her all the way back then. 

“You three should move back with us,” Terra suggested suddenly, his mother having left the room to rest a few minutes prior. “Mamma…is she…?”

“She’s getting older, Terra,” Lia told him, shrugging. “She’s not sick like daddy, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

“She won’t move, Ter, we’ve tried,” Cal added. “With the money your teacher sent we bought a small house in the village, but she’s always refused to come with us.”

“She always wanted you to be able to find your way home,” Lia replied, Aqua having had a feeling that was why the woman had stayed in the same place for so long. 

“Well, I’m here now,” Terra argued. “I can find a place for all of you to stay. We can be together again.” 

Lia and Cal shared a look, but Terra didn’t seem to want to push the matter. “Look, I’m beat. Aqua and I were flying all night, we should probably find somewhere to stay. You two think about it.” 

“Nonsense, you stay here,” Mrs. De Angelis had reappeared in the doorway, and was now shuffling through the dishes of what they had used for lunch. 

“Mamma, it’s all right, I don’t want-“ Terra started, Mrs. De Angelis raising a finger and silencing him so effectively Aqua giggled. 

“No arguments! You stay here. Plenty of room for you and the beautiful Aqua.” 

Aqua blushed as Mrs. De Angelis tapped her cheek softly, giving her a knowing smile as Terra sighed in defeat. 

“Mamma kept your room just the way you left it,” Lia added, handing Aqua another mug of tea. “Might be a squeeze for two grown people, but we managed three little ones just fine.” 

Terra led Aqua down a very short hallway to what had to be the smallest bedroom she’d ever seen. Given what Lia had said, she assumed he had had to share the room with his two sisters, making the small space that much tinier in her mind. In the corner was a short bookshelf, and from the rough-hewn edges she could tell it had been hand-made, probably by Terra himself. He’d been gifted at woodworking in the Land of Departure, Aqua remembering all the tiny figures he used to carve to give her. 

Along the top shelf sat a mixture of things precious only to a little boy-rocks and shells and the sort, as well as an old framed photograph. In the picture was a very young Terra-four or five years old at the most. His face was round and soft the way she remembered him as a young boy, but his eyes held a different kind of innocence she had never seen in him before. He sat on the lap of a man who was undoubtedly his father, and Aqua nearly gasped at the resemblance to Terra now. 

“Is this Luca?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Terra picked up the photograph and smiled fondly, nodding. 

“That was about a year before we found out he was sick,” Terra sighed, staring at the photo longingly. 

“Your mom thought you were him,” Aqua said, remembering the name Mrs. De Angelis had whispered as they had approached the house. 

Terra nodded again, Aqua seeing the return of a sheen of tears in his eyes. “I…I had forgotten what he looked like.” 

“How could you forget? You see him in the mirror every day,” Aqua teased, looking at the photo over his shoulder. “You look just like him.” 

“I wanted to be just like him,” he replied, putting the picture back on his shelf. “This is all so surreal, I never thought I’d come back here.” 

“Your mom and sisters are lovely,” Aqua told him, sitting beside him on the small bed. “I know they’re proud of the man you’ve become.” 

Terra smiled, running his fingers through his hair before letting himself fall back on his old bed, his feet still completely on the ground. 

“This is smaller than I remember,” he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. 

“You’re going to have to build us a custom bed to fit your freakishly long legs,” Aqua teased, lying back with him but having to cling to him to keep herself from falling out. 

“Consider it my wedding present to you.” 

They were silent for a while, before Aqua asked a question that had been bugging her. 

“When the spell wore off, your mom called you “tay-sora?”

Terra’s face furrowed in thought, relaxing once he figured it out. “ _Il mio tesoro_.” 

“That’s it,” she agreed, looking up at his face. “What does it mean?”

“ _My treasure_.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for those crazy kids to get hitched.

Aqua had been in love with Terra for more than half her life, so when the day finally came for her to marry him she was surprised at how nervous she felt. They had been home from Terra’s home world for several weeks now, Aqua hating to think of how distraught Terra had been over leaving his mother and sisters again to come back to Radiant Garden, but she was elated that through the use of an extra Gummiphone, he had been able to speak to them no less than once a week between training. 

Reuniting with his family had given Terra something else to think about between training sessions, but even so he was also getting nervous at the prospect of a party where he would be fifty percent of the main attraction. Aqua knew it made him nervous, but the two of them had finalized their plans to return to the Land of Departure after their wedding and that thought had seemed to ground him. There was a lot of work to be done, as they discovered when they visited briefly with Ven, the three of them setting up a memorial for Eraqus on the summit with their Wayfinders draped over their Master’s Keyblade. Ven had been especially quiet on that trip, though he seemed to take comfort in his new companion, Chirithy.

“You about ready?” Ven asked, snapping Terra out of his reverie where he had been starring out the castle window. 

“Oh, um, yeah,” he mumbled, looking at his feet. 

“You look really nice,” Ven said, a wide grin on his face. 

“You too, kid. You should clean up more often.” 

The two of them wore matching suits (minus the jackets, Terra hated them), dark suspenders matching their ties against their white shirts. Aqua had picked them out, saying they reminded her of the belts Terra used to wear while he was training. Even though they had decided on a small ceremony, it seemed like the entire town was going to be in attendance, and the idea of so many people watching him had Terra wishing he could run off to the roof the way he did when he had a nightmare. 

“Relax, just think about Aqua,” Ven sighed, clapping a hand on Terra’s back and looking out the window with him. “Just look at her, and don’t worry about anyone else.” 

“When did you get so wise?” Terra sighed, ruffling Ven’s hair much to the boy’s annoyance. “Come on, I suppose they can’t get started without us.” 

The square was decorated just as it had been all those months ago for the celebration of their final battle, only now the surrounding trees were colored in warm tones, the leaves just beginning to fall. Terra stood off to one side of the central square with Ven, waiting for Merlin to tell them they were ready to begin. The old wizard seemed thrilled to be officiating, and Terra was just happy it didn’t have to be Yen Sid, afraid it would be much too dramatic with that particular wizard. 

“Um…Terra?” Sora had run up to them, pointing one thumb over his shoulder. “There’s some ladies here. They said they were here to see you?”

Terra looked at him in confusion before following Sora’s thumb with his eyes and instantly feeling his heart clench happily. His mother and sisters were walking across the square toward him. 

His eyes and face lit up as his sisters led their mother, their faces showing matching conspiratorial smiles as they approached. 

“How did you guys get here?” Terra asked in his native language, Ven staring in utter confusion at the noises coming from his best friend’s mouth. 

“Aqua arranged it all,” Lia explained, pulling Terra into a hug before Mrs. De Angelis pushed her away, eager to have her own turn with her son. 

“You are so handsome,” Mrs. De Angelis whispered in his ear. “Just like Papi.” 

“Um…Terra…are you okay?” Ven asked, Terra wiping a tear from his cheek before casting the spell for Ven to understand them. He’d insisted that Aqua teach him during the time they spent with his family, and he had it down pretty well at this point. 

“Ven, this is my mother and sisters, Lia and Cal,” he introduced. “This is Ven, remember I told you about him?”

Cal and Lia immediately rushed forward to hug who they considered to be their nephew, said nephew looking extremely confused by the proceedings.

“Master Terra?” they heard Merlin’s voice call. “We’re ready to begin.” 

“We’d better find our seats,” Lia said quietly, pulling Mrs. De Angelis and Cal toward the chairs set up in the square. Terra let out a deep breath and nodded at Ven, who gave him a thumbs up before the two of them made their way to the front. 

There were more people here than Terra had even considered, and his stomach felt like it was doing nervous flip-flops as he tried to focus on his friends in the rows. Sora and Kairi sat beside Roxas, Naminé, and Xion, and Lea and Isa sat directly behind them in their own row. When he looked up they all waved, except for Lea who gave him a subtle wink. He was about to ask Ven where Riku was when the music started, and Terra felt his heart leap into his throat. 

Aqua was at the end of the aisle, looking more stunning that he thought it was possible for a human being to look. Her dress hugged her frame and flowed around her as if by magic, but Terra only had eyes for her face. Her blue hair had been artfully styled to one side, held in place by a white clip just above her ear. She smiled at him, and in an instant all was right in the worlds. He didn’t care how many people were staring at him, so long as he could keep looking at her. 

“She’s beautiful, Terra,” he heard Ven whisper beside him, but he didn’t tear his eyes away for even a moment. 

“I know,” he answered, although he wasn’t sure if it was actually out loud or just in his head. He barely noticed the fact that Riku led Aqua down the aisle, appropriate as he had been the one to lead her from the Realm of Darkness so long ago. Within seconds that felt like days, she stood in front of Terra, and he was taking her offered hand to stand with her in front of everyone gathered. Merlin began speaking, but Terra didn’t hear a thing. 

“You look nice,” Aqua whispered, squeezing his hands with hers and giving her a smile that helped ease the tension in his chest. 

“You too,” he replied, feeling stupid at how little that covered her radiance. He wasn’t sure how he managed to repeat the lines he was supposed to, or how he didn’t break down in tears the moment the ribbons were wrapped around their adjoined hands, but somehow he did it.

“This binding of dark blue symbolizes Water, that your love may flow and fill any depths you may have,” Merlin recited, looking over his tiny spectacles at the words he was to say. “And the orange symbolizes Earth, that your love may be wise and nurturing, and your happiness abundant.” 

The couple watched as the cords were tied around their hands, Aqua giving him a grin as Merlin continued. 

“That you are now bound together in matrimony, may no one ever tear apart. Oh, um…fiddlesticks, what’s next?” The old man ran his finger down the page where he had lost his place, Ven clearing his throat beside them. 

“Ahem…kiss.” 

“Oh yes, right, right,” Merlin stammered. “You may kiss the bride.” 

Terra and Aqua laughed, Terra leaning in to give Aqua a polite peck before she grabbed both sides of his face, forcing a much deeper kiss, the audience tittering in amusement as they began to clap wildly.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So, he can just speak an entirely different language and he never told us?” Ven asked Aqua, his face completely bewildered. 

“I know, it’s seriously bizarre,” Aqua agreed, glad to actually sit down for the first time in hours. They’d been circling to greet the guests since the ceremony, Terra having been torn away recently to introduce his family to Riku. Aqua was surprised how much he had relaxed during the party after the ceremony, although she suspected his nerves were tamed somewhat by the drinks Dilan and Aeleus had slipped him between guests. Whatever it had been, Terra had been pleasantly greeting everyone who approached them, and had done so with a smile. He had apparently finished with his family and Riku, as he came up to where Ven and Aqua were sitting now, holding a hand out to Aqua. 

“Ven, can I steal my wife away for a dance?” he asked, grinning at Ven with an eyebrow raised. 

“Of course,” Ven answered, winking at Terra as he walked away, mentioning something to the townsperson controlling the music. Ven had handled all of the music so far, him being the only one with any handle on modern music. The rest of the guests cleared the dance floor as Terra and Aqua joined it, and Aqua was surprised when Terra confidently took her hand and waist to begin their dance. 

“I have a confession,” he whispered to her as the music started, Aqua swearing she’d heard the song somewhere before. 

“What?” she asked, amazed when Terra effortlessly led her around the dance floor, spinning her confidently.

“I’ve been practicing dancing with Ven for the last four weeks,” he giggled, pulling her back close to him, the two of them laughing hysterically. “Don’t tell him I told you.” 

“It’s paid off, you’re wonderful,” she laughed, remembering how awful he’d been at dancing before. “I won’t say a word.” 

_'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love  
Not knowing what it was  
I will not give you up this time  
But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own  
And in your eyes you're holding mine  
Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms  
Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song  
When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath  
But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Handfasting" is the tradition of tying ribbons or cords around the hands of those getting married. It originated in western Europe, but has been adopted by many cultures all over the world. I got most of my information (including a re-working of the vows) from this website:  
> http://www.nutmegjp.com/Handfastings.html
> 
> The colors are attributed to Aqua and Terra's original Wayfinders. :')
> 
> Song credit:  
> Sheeran, Edward Christopher. "Perfect." _÷_ , Asylum/Atlantic Records, 2017, Track 5.


	6. Chapter 6

“Well, you made it,” Riku sighed as Terra flopped onto the bench beside him, hair sticking to his face with sweat from where he had been dancing for the past hour or so. He took another drink from the bottle someone had handed him, feeling the cool whir of dizziness just barely making his head spin as he wondered if he would regret it in the morning or not. 

“Yeah, people are leaving,” he agreed, the two of them watching the rest of their group dancing on the floor. Riku only had eyes for one, Terra taking another swig for courage before speaking up. 

“So…does he know?”

“Know what? Who?” Riku asked, head whipping around to look at Terra. 

“Sora,” Terra replied with a shrug, looking out at the boy in question, although “boy” was probably not the best term for any of their group any more. Sora, the youngest, had recently come of age and was nearly as tall as Riku now, although missed it by just an inch or two. 

“Does Sora know what?” Riku asked, although his face betrayed his nerves. 

“That you’re in love with him,” Terra finished simply, shrugging again as Riku looked at him with panic in his eyes. “I know that look. I had it for eight years every time I looked at her,” Terra indicated with one hand where Aqua danced, her face lit in hysterical laughter as Ven did something stupid in front of her. 

“No. No, he doesn’t know. Nobody does,” Riku sighed. “Except you, I guess.” 

“I won’t say a word,” Terra promised. “I’ve known about those two for months.” This time he pointed to Lea and Isa, who were slow-dancing by themselves despite the quick tempo of the song playing, the two of them clearly in their own world, wrapped around each other. “And I can’t stand that red-headed little twerp.” 

Riku laughed, relaxing a bit as he looked back to the dance floor. 

“How did you tell her?”

“Got possessed by an evil Keyblade wielder, met up with her in the Dark Realm, pined for twenty-five years,” Terra replied glibly, Riku looking at him like he was insane. “What? I didn’t suggest you go that route. You asked what _I_ did.” 

Riku sighed, shaking his head at the clearly half-drunk Terra. 

“Look, here’s what I know,” Terra continued, sitting forward and putting a hand on Riku’s shoulder. “Master Eraqus used to tell us that life is too fleeting to go a day without following one’s heart. I didn’t really know what it meant back then, but…I kind of get it now.” 

Riku smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Terra.” 

“You’re welcome, kid. And thanks for helping me too, you know. In a way, this is all thanks to you.” 

Riku waved him off just as Aqua came up to them. 

“Come on, Ienzo will be back with the car to take us to our room for the night and I want one more dance with my husband,” she said, tugging Terra’s hand back toward the dance floor. 

“Bossy,” Terra teased, setting his drink down and starting to follow her, turning toward Riku one more time. “Think about what I said, Riku. Life’s too short.” 

“What you said about what?” Aqua asked as her hands encircled the back of Terra’s neck, the two of them beginning to sway to the music. 

“About him being totally in love with Sora.” 

“Ah, and the fact that he’s the only one who doesn’t know it?” she asked, nodding knowingly. 

“In so many words, yes.”


	7. Chapter 7

Terra woke up slowly, his head fuzzy and aching slightly from the night before, although the dull aches from _other parts_ of his body definitely outweighed the bad. Aqua had ensured that he would never be able to look back on their wedding night without blushing, and he was completely and totally okay with that. 

What he was not okay with was the fact that when he rolled over, while pleased with the fact that he _could_ roll over in a bed large enough to accommodate two people, the other side was empty. He let his arms fall to the side for a moment, relishing in the fact that all four of his limbs were actually contained on a mattress before he heard the buzz of the electronic door lock click at the entrance to their room. 

“I was worried you got cold feet,” he grumbled, still half-asleep as he rolled over to watch Aqua scurry back into the room, two cups of coffee in her hands. 

“Cold feet is when you run off _before_ the wedding, not after, silly,” she teased, waiting for him to sit up against the headboard before handing him one of the cups. 

“Still not fair, I didn’t get to wake up to you naked in bed beside me,” he moped, taking a sip of coffee and wincing. “This one’s yours. Sugar.” 

They swapped and he took a drink of the other, happy to find it unaltered. 

“Well, you know that I’m actually capable of getting back into bed beside you, right?” she asked, rolling her eyes as she sat her cup and keys down on the bedside table.

“Can you be naked when you do it?” he asked teasingly, Aqua giggling at his eager face. 

“You’re such a _boy_ ,” she groaned, although he chuckled to himself as she started to remove her clothes again. 

“I spent twenty years as a sexually-repressed nut-job, what do you expect?” he teased, happily holding the covers up for her to join him once she was fully undressed. 

“No, no, no,” Aqua scolded, snuggling up in the space between Terra’s neck and shoulder. “Absolutely no mention of him on our honeymoon. Off limits.” 

“Sorry,” Terra laughed, reaching over to set his coffee down so he could wrap both arms around her. “Lia and Cal convinced Mom to move to Radiant Garden.” 

Aqua sat up, a beaming smile on her face. “Really? That’s great news! Why not Land of Departure with us?”

“I think Mom doesn’t want to impose, but if they can convince her to move at all, maybe it’s possible.” 

“That would be amazing, Terra, I’m so happy for you,” she replied, resting her head back against his chest. 

“It’s going to take us awhile to fix up the old castle, anyway,” he sighed. “Xeha- I mean… _someone_ really did a number on that place.”

“We can fix it,” she replied with a small shrug. “It’ll be a nice project for us.” 

They were both silent for a moment, Aqua speaking first.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Terra sighed, Aqua’s head popping up to look at him.

“Tell me. You’re my husband, you’re not allowed to have secrets anymore, remember?” she teased. 

“I was thinking about…”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking about that thing you did last night…”

“Were you thinking you wanted me to do it again?” Aqua asked, her face twisting into a devious grin.

“Yes, please.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was several hours later when the electronic buzz of a Gummiphone pierced the silence of their room, Aqua stirring but Terra staying fast asleep on the huge bed. Realizing answering would involve having to get up, Aqua groaned as she wrapped the sheet around herself, getting up to search through their clothes to find it. 

“Don’t answer it,” she heard Terra groan from the bed. He hadn’t moved, but she could see his eyes moving behind his lids as he apparently decided to wake up or not. 

“Something could be wrong,” she argued, finding the phone in Terra’s pants, which were draped artlessly over the table. 

“Or someone can’t find the remote,” he grumbled, finally rolling over to his back and stretching. 

Aqua clicked the phone on, Ven’s face lighting up on the screen.

“Hey Ven, what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Ven had the good nature to look embarrassed, running his fingers nervously through his hair. “Hey…yeah, everything’s okay. I…I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“No,” Aqua laughed, as Terra had shouted “yes” from the bed where he was curling back up beneath the blankets. Aqua rolled her eyes and went back to the bed, sitting beside Terra and making sure to keep the sheet tightly wrapped around herself. “What’s the matter, Ven?”

“Well, I’ve…I’ve had something on my mind for a while now,” Ven started, looking worried. “Since…since you guys came back from your trip to Terra’s home world, and…and I decided I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore.” 

Terra had perked up at the nervous quality to Ven’s voice, and had sidled up to Aqua so he too could see Ven’s face.

“What is it, Ven? You know we’re going to support you no matter what,” Aqua assured him. 

“I’m…I’m not going home with you guys. To the Land of Departure.” 

They were all silent for a few seconds, Terra finally speaking up and pulling Aqua’s hand over. 

“Why not?”

“I…I’m going to stay here,” Ven explained, gesturing behind him where they could see the square of Radiant Garden, a few sleepy townspeople cleaning up the mess from yesterday’s wedding. “I’m going to keep training with the others. That, and…” 

“And what, Ven?” Aqua probed, settling down so her’s and Terra’s faces were both in the screen. 

“And…you guys are starting a life together,” he explained with a shrug. “You don’t need me hanging around like a cheap roommate.” 

Both Terra and Aqua tried to argue at the same time, Ven smiling at their banter. 

“No, really guys, I’m…I’m happy with my decision.” 

“Ven, the Land of Departure is your home,” Aqua sighed, her brow furrowed as she looked at his face on the phone. 

“It’s not, actually,” Ven replied. “That’s the other thing…I think I’m going to do what Terra did and visit my home world.” 

Aqua and Terra shared a quick glance, looking back at the phone in confusion.

“Yeah, I know, I’ll be careful,” Ven laughed. “But…I remember that I’m from Daybreak Town, and Ienzo is helping me find it and make sure it’s safe.” 

“We could go with you,” Terra suggested, trying to fix his hair once he realized how insanely tousled it was. 

“Nah, I think it’s something I have to do alone,” Ven said, shaking his head with a warm smile. “It’s…hard to explain.”

“We get it,” Aqua sighed, Terra nodding in agreement. “But if you ever change your mind about coming home, Ven, you know our doors will always be open.” 

“Yeah, I know,” he laughed. “Okay, sorry for interrupting. You guys have fun.” 

Terra rolled his eyes while Aqua laughed. “All right Ven, bye!”

Aqua clicked the phone off, letting it rest on her chest beside Terra’s head. 

“You okay?” she asked, using her free hand to card her fingers through Terra’s hair. 

“I…guess. It’ll be weird being there without him.” 

“I know,” she agreed. “But…I kind of knew it was coming. He’s growing up, you know?”

“I know,” Terra agreed. “It’ll be back to being just me and you.” 

“Well, I suppose I could stand that company,” Aqua laughed. “If that’s my only choice.” 

Terra gave her a withering look, propping himself up on his elbow. 

“Didn’t hear you complaining about my company last night…” he teased. “Or this morning. Or this morning the _second_ time.” 

“That’s because you weren’t talking then,” Aqua teased back, laughing at his pretend affronted face. 

“Then I’ll just use my mouth for something else, then,” he nearly growled, making Aqua giggle as he comically disappeared underneath the covers. In a few seconds, her laughs dissolved into something _very_ different.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this short little sequel. I'm willing to write more if there's any interest, as I've absolutely fallen in love with these two blockheads.

Terra heaved the last of the debris into the pile he’d made, grunting as he came back up and brushing his hands off on his pants. 

“Looks great, babe!” Aqua called from the front garden, where she was watering the freshly planted flowers that promised to bring the garden back to its previous grandeur. 

“Everything’s structurally sound,” Terra called, wiping sweat off his brow with his forearm and looking up at the last wing of the castle to be renovated. “We can go in and have you decide what you want to do with it.” 

They had been home at the Land of Departure for three weeks now, and in those weeks it was astounding to any outsider the amount of work they had finished. Admittedly, Terra’s sleep issues had played into this, as many mornings Aqua would wake to find him putting the finishing touches on a room that was in shambles the night before. They had moved into Aqua’s old room, both of them giving in to the nostalgia the room brought, although Terra insisted on building them a bed that didn’t have his feet hanging off the end. 

They had transformed Eraqus’ old room into an office, both of them sharing a tearful afternoon as they sorted through the many photos of Aqua and Terra as children that Eraqus had in frames throughout his personal spaces. All in all, the castle was back to its original splendor, and Terra was actually a little bummed that the work was almost finished. 

The two of them walked through the last section that hadn’t been fixed up, the walls still dusty and floors still cracked. 

“What did we even use these rooms for before we left?” Terra asked, peeking into the small square rooms that looked just like their bedroom on the other side. 

“I think they were supposed to be for other students if there ever were any,” Aqua shrugged. “We can set them up as guest rooms for when the team comes to visit.” 

Terra nodded, hands on his hips as he started compiling a list in his head of what needed to be done. 

“Or…it could be a nursery.” 

Terra nodded again, having completely missed the inflection in her voice and taking another second before his head whipped around so fast Aqua let out a short giggle. His eyes were wide in question, Aqua nodding slightly. 

“W-what? Really?”

“Really,” she whispered back to him, wishing his face didn’t look so utterly terrified. 

He stared at her, not breathing for long enough that Aqua started to worry. “Are…you okay?”

“Really?” he asked again, eyes still wide.

“Really,” she repeated, stepping against him and taking one of his hands. “I waited two months just to be sure.” 

“Two months…?” he mumbled, Aqua watching as he thought back. “Honeymoon?”

“I think so,” she chuckled lightly, nodding. 

“Really?” he asked one more time, although Aqua’s heart lightened when she realized that this time there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face. 

“Really,” she confirmed. “I guess it’s why I’ve been so tired lately.” 

She yelped when Terra dropped to his knees in front of her, and there was a brief moment of panic when she thought he had fainted before she felt him pull her shirt up and place his head against her belly. She huffed, feeling the first prickle of tears in her eyes as he listened to what was undoubtedly only stomach sounds coming from her belly. She ran her fingers through his hair, laughing as he turned to kiss her bare belly. 

“You know what this means?” he whispered up to her, face still in a shocked state of awe.

“What?”

“We have to go call Ven!” he said excitedly, jumping up and sprinting from the room, Aqua close at his heels. 

“Wait! I want to tell him too!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I <3 them. Leave me comments, I love to know people enjoyed my writing.


End file.
